Hot Topics:

Expert: Nationally, hazing incidents grow in 'ferocity'

York College stresses zero tolerance as it deals with a hazing situation.

By HANNAH SAWYER Daily Record/Sunday News

Updated:
11/02/2013 11:35:50 PM EDT

Hank Nuwer, a professor at Franklin College in Indiana, has spent 35 years studying hazing and speaking on college campuses about the dangers of initiations marked by drinking binges, beatings and other mental and physical trials.

But in the last decade, Nuwer said, he has noticed a troubling trend across high school and college athletics -- a tendency toward increasing "fierceness" and "ferocity" in hazing despite a growing national dialogue about the practice. An Internet search, for example, turns up headlines and stories from across the country about deaths of high school and college students that have been tied to hazing.

College officials have not said exactly what is alleged to have happened. But the severity of the case "has elevated this particular incident," said Mary Dolheimer, a spokeswoman for the college. Paul Saikia, the college's athletic director, said the situation "affected the safety of kids and their well-being."

Without specifics, there's no way to compare the York College situation with cases that Nuwer has studied. But in other incidents taking place in school hallways and team locker rooms, he said, the stunts that once defined hazing, such as making rookies carry equipment or shave their heads, have been replaced by much more serious acts.

Nick Shields, 16, was pummeled by his teammates on the Dallastown wrestling team during a practice last January. Curled up on the ground in the fetal position, he said, he tried to protect his head and body while about 13 wrestlers slapped and punched him. His former coach, Matthew Striebig, had called for the other wrestlers to take "free hits" on Nick after Nick passed gas at a practice, the district attorney's office has said.

He said he didn't really understand what hazing was. It seemed like it was just a part of being on the team.

The boundaries between bullying and hazing are vague. Both terms are used to reference behavior that put people in situations of mental or physical distress or danger. But most institutions and state anti-hazing laws link hazing to initiation or continued membership in an organization.

"In some cases, the studies show that liking for a group increases the harder it is to get into that group. On the other hand, ... it also causes cliques. It also causes resentment," Nuwer said. It breaks groups apart, rather than bringing them together.

Hazing culture also can vary between sports, he said. An Alfred University study found that certain sports like wrestling and football -- the contact sports and high status sports -- showed higher participation in hazing.

But hazing wasn't something Chris Albright, a former York College wrestler who was a member of the team through 2012, experienced in his two years at the program. Albright wrestled under former head coach Tom Kessler, who led the team for 21 years before stepping down in 2012, and current head coach Duane Bastress, who was an assistant at the time.

His coaches took the issue of hazing seriously, he said. Kessler was "a discipline, no-nonsense type of a guy," and Bastress, a York College alumna and former All-American and two-time national champion, had the same style, he said.

"You have your team bonding moments where you all do stupid stuff, but that's college," he said. When a situation went too far and people started getting uncomfortable, the team would put a stop to it, he said.

What are the consequences?

It was nearly a month later before Nick told his parents about what was going on during the high school practices.

School officials investigated. Authorities later charged Striebig with a summary offense of disorderly conduct, court records indicate. He entered Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition, a probationary program for nonviolent, first-time offenders that can result in an expunged criminal record.

Striebig later resigned, although a school official said his resignation was not connected to the incident.

The fallout was significant for Nick.

"Some people didn't talk to me. I lost a lot of friends," he said.

Schools need to set strong guidelines for dealing with hazing, he said.

York College has a zero-tolerance policy for hazing. Students found guilty by the college's judicial board could face expulsion, Dolheimer said.

Police have not been involved in the York College investigation, but 44 states, including Pennsylvania, have an anti-hazing law that criminalizes the behavior.

In Pennsylvania, the practice is considered a third-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of $2,000. The law lays the burden of policing the practice largely on individual institutions.

The college administration suspended the wrestling program. The NCAA lacks specific language pertaining to hazing in its Division III manual.

York College was under no obligation to report the allegations, but it did make the NCAA aware, Dolheimer said. She said the college does not expect further action from the governing body, but said more sanctions could be handed out by the school.

What can be done?

Quitting wrestling was not something Nick considered. He plans to return this year, even though some who took part in the hazing are still part of the team.

"It's been a pretty hard nine months," he said.

Now a junior, Nick has started to visit college programs, including York College, and said he will continue wrestling after he graduates. The college's zero-tolerance policy "is the way it should be," he said.

Preventative steps are key in ensuring that policy is followed, Nuwer said. Coaches need to educate players about the rules and penalties and use captains to ensure there's opposition within the team against hazing.

Policies should be established to allow victims to report incidents without fear of retaliation, and it should be clear that "jokes" and "pranks" fall under hazing, he said.

While Dolheimer said York College has made it a priority to educate all students about hazing -- and coaches are expected to continue that conversation with their athletes -- the school is now discussing what else can be done.

"We will look at kind of beefing up the conversation around hazing so it's completely and comprehensively understood by students. ... There will be a very clear sense of reality," she said.

The issue "is now front and center," she said.

Professor: More transparency needed

Hank Nuwer, a professor at Franklin College and a hazing expert, said that schools need to be more transparent about hazing incidents and release related disciplinary records so that students can make better decisions about what organizations to join.

Experts "believe (hazing) can be curtailed, and it won't be curtailed until there's complete transparency," he said.

He added that stronger state legislation is needed, as well, citing the recent hazing death of 20-year-old Samuel Mason, a Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity pledge, at Radford University in Virginia.

Five defendants in the case, who were members of the fraternity, were sentenced to 24 months in jail, suspended, and $1,000 in fines, according to a report in the (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot.

Study: Hazing has wide reach

In a 2008 national study conducted by researchers at the University of Maine, more than half of all college students involved in clubs, athletics and other organizations said that they had experienced hazing.

Nearly half of all students said that they had experienced hazing before they came to college.

The most common practices included sleep deprivation, sex acts, alcohol consumption, humiliation and isolation, according to the study, and in 95 percent of cases where students identified their experience as hazing, they did not report the events to campus officials.

F&M lacrosse team penalized

The York College wrestling team isn't the first college program in the region to face fallout from hazing allegations.

In 2012, Franklin & Marshall College fired its national championship-winning women's lacrosse coach Lauren Paul and suspended players following a complaint over a hazing incident a year earlier, the Associated Press reported.

The team finished its season with a 13-3 record, but withdrew from the Centennial Conference tournament and from consideration for a NCAA tournament bid.

ODESSA, Texas (AP) — A West Texas man has been charged with impersonating an officer by using sirens and flashing lights to skip to the head of the drive-thru line at a fast-food restaurant. Full Story

Sufjan Stevens, "Carrie & Lowell" (Asthmatic Kitty) Plucked strings and pulsing keyboards dominate the distinctive arrangements on Sufjan Stevens' latest album, and in the absence of a rhythm section, they serve to keep time. Full Story